(Eternity, Day 1)

“Hello Adam,” Ptah said

“Hello. I take it you are the Ptah I met before?” I asked.

“Yes. I’ve been waiting for you to make your way here. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to step in but sometimes, some people, are just too smart for their own good,” he said with a smile.

“Good to know,” I said with a grin.

“First, there are things that I cannot tell you. The information falls under the Convention of Conquest, which beings at my level cannot violate without drastic consequences. That said I can tell you what the Convention of Conquest is,” Ptah said as a chair and another Long Island Iced tea appeared and he sat down. He raised his glass in salute, David and I followed suit, and we all took a drink.

“The first thing you should know,” Ptah started, “Is that during my previous visit I was but a projection. I was also very limited in what I could and could not pass on. Now that you’ve moved out of your origin point, I can share a little more.”

Breaking in I said, “Let’s start with who, or what you are?”

“Who I am is Ptah, it is as good a name as any. What I am, that is a little more complicated, but I will say that I am not unlike your fictional Dr. Who.”

“You’re a Time Lord?”

“I said like Dr. Who. I didn’t say I was Dr. Who.” He said with a chuckle. I am not a Time Lord, though my sphere is time and I do have the ability to transverse it.”

“So, when you visited me my Universe?”

“That was moments ago for me. Of course, my definition of moments and yours are not exactly equal.”

“But if you’re from outside the Cosmos I was in, how did you…”I trailed off as I thought about it. “You traveled, through time to a point where you could enter, then jumped to the point where I was. Did you leave the same way?”

“As astute as ever. Yes, that’s how I was able to get into your Cosmos and extricate myself without Textrix being aware of my visit. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Cosmos since Textrix took a direct interest in it.”

“Why did that happen?”

“Because of you” Ptah said as David raised his glass in my direction.

“Because of me, what did I do?”

“Seriously Adam, what did you do? Did you not reverse and rewind an entire Cosmos, technically two of them causing countless Universes and Dimensions to reset? Think about it for a minute and see if you can figure out why Textrix would have been so interested in you and the Cosmos you came from. As you’re thinking I would like to remind you that the best lies have a modicum of truth to them.”

“You know what Janice told me?” I asked

“Yes, I’m a ‘Time Lord’, well close enough that I can replay your life as I like.” I know what Janice said to you. So go on, think about it and let me know what you think happened.”

I paused for a second then started to run simulation models through my expanded mentality within my soul space. Once I was done the answer hit me like a brick, “Janice wasn’t lying very much was she?”

“There were some obvious mistruths that fit her explanation but for the most part, no, she wasn’t lying to you.”

“And I guess I’m free because one of the rules that Textrix is governed by states that if a soul does not willingly submit the soul must be set free?“ I asked

“Yes, very good. Have you figured out why Textrix attacked your Universes Connection now.?

Oh, that was easy. Your involvement as an agent of Time, the subsequent locking of time-related magic in my Cosmos, and your intimation that some of what Janice said to me was true indicate that Textrix was able to subsume a lot of souls right after I saved them all. She’s probably redirecting the souls into herself. Since I freed so many, that’s a lot of energy she’s absorbing, earning, whatever.”

“As I said, what Janice said to you had a modicum of truth. Your actions freed the flood gates. Textrix was the first to react, but others have also been trying to trick souls into becoming subsumed to them as well.” Ptah said.

“By your tone, it almost seems as if you may have become frustrated with the state where I came from was in?” I asked

Ptah looked thoughtful for a moment before he continued. “First, I do not hold you accountable for the actions taken by the Gods of your realm, nor do I hold any ill will towards any of them. Once they had the choice, they were free to move on, just like everybody else. They had all been trapped for a very long time and had no idea what was next. The problem is that there were a lot of fixed souls that came through. A couple of copper as well but because of their lack of progression and their inability to garner Karmic Luck those souls are nowhere near as powerful as yours is.”

“So, what does ‘Copper, 100%’ represent?” I asked.

“The percentage is an indicator of how much further you need to go before earning your next soul level”

“Oh, so I have 100% more to go,” I said.

“The number is an indication of how far along you have already progressed,” Ptah said.

“How far along I’ve already progressed? You mean I’ve already achieved 100% of the experience and Karmic Luck I need to become a silver-ranked soul?”

“Yes”

“Yes? Then why am I not a silver-ranked soul?” I asked.

David spoke up, “There are requirements as old as time. A soul may not rank up by more than one level per cosmic occurrence. A cosmic occurrence is when a soul enters a reality and lives a life there.”

“I couldn’t project my soul into the Cosmos and live my life that way?”

Before David could answer Ptah spoke up, “Actually Adam, I don’t know. There are exceptions to every rule and you seem to be able to do things most can’t. It is unlikely, but then again knowing you, it’s probably possible.”

David looked from Ptah to me then back to Ptah before he asked, “Is He?”

Ptah met David’s gaze as he said, “Most Likely”

“Because talking about the guy standing right beside you in very obvious innuendo doesn’t make that person want to ask what you’re hinting at,” I said.

“It’s nothing we could talk to you about anyway. We could be wrong. Suffice it to say you might be able to project your soul into realms and locations you shouldn’t be able to,” Ptah said.

“Okay, I get that I might be able to do something special. I even get that there is probably a prophecy or some other such knowledge out there predicting my appearance. My primary question is this, Why should I care?”

Ptah looked thoughtful for a moment then answered, “Where we are, this Eternity, is one of a possibly infinite number of eternities that exist through time and space. The Concepts, as I’ve described them, maintain their concept on that vast scale. To do that they have agents, cults, races, magical beings, tools, and even realities to help them with their endeavors. These sides are in constant competition and are always vying for an advantage over the other. In most cases, this balances out and sides adjust automatically.

“My boss, Time, watches all, knows all because that is his purpose. Except that he doesn’t know all, at least recently. Right around the time you left your Universe, subjectively, my concept lost sight of the future. It is now closed to us. Something will happen that we know nothing of and even traveling as close to that cut-off gives us no information. One moment everything is normal, the next, everything is shut down and time travel to that time, or farther forward into time is impossible, even for my Concept. I know these ideas are new to you, but you must understand that it should not be possible for a concept to be locked out of an ability of its own concept. Time should be able to stop, reverse and travel through time as he desires. Currently, he is excluded from the future for some reason.”

“That sound’s somewhat Ominous,” I offered bleakly

“Just so,” Ptah said as he took a drink, relaxed for a few minutes then set his glass down before he stood and said, “I must be going. The last bit of information I will give you is that while the Convention of Conquest might sound like a list of instructions on how to take over something it is more like a treaty. It is also the reason we are having this discussion and Textrix didn’t just send you to one of her realities to flounder and die.”

“Die? Wait, we can die?”

“Have you not been paying attention,” Ptah asked.

“The Concepts feed on the energy that souls bring to them. This cycle of growth then slaughter is an old one and is repeated from the levels of photosynthesis all the way up to Concepts feeding on the soul experience and Karmic Luck of those that submit to them. As you know already though, a soul can always say no,” Ptah said.

“Thank you for passing on this information. It looks like I have a lot to learn again.”

“As do we all. David will answer any more of your questions and take you to the central hub where you can decide where you’re going to go next. Though, I’d recommend that you allow the randomizer to choose your second life. With the understanding that any reality is possible, even copies of realities you’ve been to.” Ptah offered his hand, which I shook. “Good Luck and I hope we get to meet again,” he said as he disappeared from view.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” David said. Also, it looks like I get to lead you to the Hub. Ready?” he asked.

“Absolutely, let’s get this show on the road,” I said

The table, chairs, drinks, and beach all disappeared and my local completely changed. I now stood in a room with what looked like an electronic board that had information popping in and out of various windows. There were three main columns Low Risk, Moderate Risk, and High Risk. The information that kept popping in and out was not word based but a series of numbers and letters. As I watched H3…01456342 popped into one of the high-risk windows. I pointed at the number and asked, “David, what does that number indicate?”

“Within each universe, there are primary sentient races. In this case, the digit indicates that should you accept that slot you would be traveling to a universe as a human. The 3 indicates that the technology level is equivalent to Earth during the 21st Century and the …01456342 represents the last eight digits of an extremely long number that represents the Cosmos you’d be going into “

“What’s up with these three columns? Why is that slot high risk?” I asked.

“For the most part, basic souls are redirected wherever they need to be. This could mean going right back to the Universe they came from or it could mean getting hauled off somewhere else. Once you become an advanced soul you can leverage your Karmic Luck in a bet of sorts. Low-risk rebirths indicate that there is less than a 1/10th of a 1% chance that your Karmic Luck will decrease. So long as your karmic luck increases, you win and you reap the reward. If your Karmic Luck lowers you lose double your investment and bet.

“David, why don’t you start from the beginning and assume I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Oh, right. Sorry, Adam, I forgot it’s your first time here. Okay to begin with every location, every universe every cosmos where will can maintain a soul eventually the physical construct they inhabit is destroyed. Even the immortal races lose their bodies when their Universe dies or is reformed from scratch. When that happens if the will can, it holds itself together and the soul is drawn through apertures, what you refer to as The Eye, to these places between places. Eternity being one of a possibly infinite number of such locations.”

I nodded as I said, “We’ve covered that”

“Yes, well. Basic souls go into these hubs and are immediately redirected into other universes based on their Soul Abilities and Karmic Luck, if any. The system chooses where each soul goes based on some mechanism of choice no one understands as yet. The one thing that we have determined is that as long as your Absolute Karma Increases the locations you go to and the strength of soul increase.”

“What do you mean by Absolute Karma?”

“Absolute Karma means simply that you take the positive or negative symbol off your Karmic Luck attribute and that value is used to determine if you make gains on the board in front of us. For instance. If someone with a negative 100 Karmic Luck entered that universe to improve their Karmic Luck gains they would need to achieve a Karmic Luck of -101 or lower.”

“So, when you say absolute, you really are talking about the absolute value of the number. Good to know. So, what is this bonus you’re describing?

“The Bonus is a multiplier. When you next find your way into Eternity or one of the many other hubs whatever gain or loss you have will be multiplied. The low risk reduces gains or losses by half. Moderate Risk is normal and High risk doubles your loss or gain.”

“That seems pretty straightforward”

“There is also another factor that can come into play. A soul can choose where it goes next or it can leave it to random chance. If you leave the selection to random chance no matter what happens you are guaranteed to increase your Karmic Luck by 1. Of course, you could still lose Karmic Luck while alive but that’s the chance everyone takes when they re-enter the realm of the living as a corporeal being.”

“So, David, again I have to ask why? Why do a possibly infinite number of souls that come into being follow this model?”

“Some don’t. In a system of an infinite number of beings, if only 1% chose to continue how many would that be?” David asked

“A percentage of an infinite number is of course infinite,” I said.

“Exactly. This system works for those that chose for it to work. Are there other systems out there? I guess it’s possible, but I’ve never encountered beings from such areas. I only know that those that leave their Cosmos through their soul aperture wind up in this place between places and from Eternity can make their way back through the aperture to live once again and continue to grow. As you will no doubt see limitations will be placed on you. A reminder. You will not be able to discuss what is on this side of the soul aperture. No one can. Also, each Cosmos may or may not have divine beings and their own rules for an afterlife of sorts. It does not matter, nor does the length of time you are in a new life or afterlife. When you are done you’ll find yourself here again. The only thing that matters during your time in any new Cosmos is how it changes your soul and Karmic Luck you gain or lose.”

“What about choosing my abilities for the new world?”

“What is available will be made clear to you during your transition.”

“Will I see you again?” I asked

“Yes, and we’ll talk about that specific aspect of Eternity when you get back. Now you must choose.”

“I understand, until I have experienced this system, I cannot truly understand it?”

“Something like that,” David said.

“What would you recommend?”

“In your case, with the level of Karmic Luck you have and the odds that gaining more is unlikely, not impossible mind you, but unlikely, I would suggest that you let the System decide for you.”

I looked over the choices on the billboard and found a board titled Random as I asked, “Random?”

“Yes”

“How exactly do I choose it? I mean I can see it, but there are no buttons, just a board with various choices on it,” I said.

“Just reach up and touch the location you want. That act indicates that’s where you want to go. The system acknowledges your choice and you’re whisked away to your new life. Word of warning, it might be a little bit disorienting.”

“Thank you for the information David, I guess I’ll see you the next time I’m here,” I said as I reached up and touched the word ‘Random.’

* * *

Ptah reappeared in another part of Eternity. A room with a table around which others who served Chronos sat waiting for their concept to call for or send them on tasks. As soon as he appeared he felt the telltale signs of a summons and adjusted his perception and location to that of Chronos.

“How did it go?” Chronos asked.

“As expected. He’s doubtful and doesn’t trust any of this.”

“The smart ones never do,” Chronos said as he paused for a moment. “Interesting, David suggested to him that he should take the Random choice.”

“As did I, will that be a problem?”

“It shouldn’t be. Random removes his choice to just use a projection, which at this stage would just confuse him. He has to learn for himself what it means to be someone completely different than he is though…”

“Though?” Ptah asked.

“Though in his case, that may not be possible. Continue to keep an eye on him but do not interfere. He must learn this next set of lessons on his own. When he returns to Eternity we’ll revaluate the situation to determine how much more he needs to know.”

“I take that to mean there has been no change?”

“No change, the future is blocked to me though I can feel the tell-tale signs of temporal disruption so it may clear up, there is no way to tell.”

“Any idea what the event is?”

“No”

Ptah realized that they were done and teleported himself back to his brothers and sisters. They talked about their current missions and the places they had visited. Too soon It was time for him to go. Ptah made his way to his home, locked his projection onto Adam’s location, and projected himself into that location. It was time to get back to work.